Tool orienting method and apparatus



New 9, 1943..

G. A. SMITH TOOL ORIENTING METHOD AND APPARATUS I Filed NOV. 1, 1940 ar a;

Patented Nov. 9, 1943 1 IENTING METHOD-END '--ABPARATUS- r rarjass'ignorio I l, spew; s Weirfsurveg i ggcbmpanyg Phila- ,Q I Y f afar-" in D l w r l I 1 :Abp cationchlovember1,1940,eserial Ndfiwhll lll-i :4 .d

, Tlrisinventlonrelatesto eans forrorienting a tool in a borehole by'manlpu'lati'oir 'of a drill stem supportingtheatool. a: v d If w a gwInnthe ;settingcofl-- tools such; as 'WhipStOCkS "or other;directionaldrilllng tools in-bore;holes,.- the tools are generally loweredvinto thevhole'pbymean's of; a sectional drill stein-.md-thenpthrough some means indicative; .oiithe: position of the. tool, the position'pof .thertool firstwattained is: determined by: 111831115401 an inc1imom-(-21;er;v or= othertwellijsun- '10 veyingjnstrument. vFrom1thisadeterminationjs I made of. the. ;.amount ,ofurotation of the .drill stem necessary to bringthestoohintoadesired position, and lsugh rptationj imparted: 70117118 'drillmstem. HQwever,.*since-,mby IfiiSDILiOf fnlotionl-algi-vem-rotation of the drill; stem'iat the; surface may [not result; in; a correspond iigurotation .roi aft-he gtool in th bottom fsthaho-le, a z-furthemcheck .is nerlly tes-s ri i i-z -s vmilar-zfashionzto insure that after the first adjustmentqthei tool ,has beenwpo -r 20 .si o e ias d ired. alt w 1l;. lean that. a number-pfagm lpulat s arewnecess ly oue c tthe timale;msit n n rofit e; 0 hr; he'se methods. t su u r m wt ne t a, t. t of t ols in-slop n ole p w d -t a;tQo1 mfi nsw f hti os m uetrioallyts gthat he i0 whiqh $l tV l Qf;l ;l 8; drill 1 st m will ram tomatially turn to bring a predeterminedpart thereof to the low si de ofta hole. fine arrangem nts aireb m e alr owever s uo fri liO W l bra y se a u w a@9 by he low side of the hole even whenthe a hole is yery considerably inclined y'vith; respect to the yert ioal In slightlyinelinedholes suoh a dye. lee-is not only impractieal, but whollyyinopferative,

' It,isthefbroad,objeqtof the present; to provide an apparatus for ,theautomatielocal ti'onl'oiatdolinbred 4' "4 Figure 2 l is a fragmentary enlargecfsectio n il *lustrating particularly the locking means;- 1

" Figure 3 is a fragmentary" transverse semen taken on the plane:indicated-at -wiiri Figure-2'; andw i Ffigure lis a similar sectlon'taken indicated afM-iHFigut-ZP l A sectional- "hollow 'd'rill stem of eonventional construction has included in it; adjacent "its lower end a sub "2, whioh proyides asuppdrt-fdr various operating elements. Into therlo'wer poition of'this sub-2 thereis threaded atjk a box or coupling 9 to which ma'y lie-secured at suitable bit. This box 6, together with a downwardly facing ori the plane shoulder on'the-sub fiprovidesa inounjtingfor an annular ring mammal-821:0 whiclris s ecu're'ol a Whipstock 10 by means a; 'a' ,converrtionalshar pin f2. As the arts are thusjini't'ia jly asso ated, the bill will be*located -atjthe upperportlon of the deflecting, face of the whipstock. r While a whip stock is herein illu-stratedas thetool tobe orfented, it w ill be evident that the-invention is equally applicable, to'theuori'entation of Various other drilling-tools of types known in the" art.

The sub 2 and themernb'erfidefine amen between surface's'lfi and ram wliicl'iutheremay freely move a steel balrlll; Defining the bottom andlla semi spher'idallower portion ofla radius fsfrigiifiiy, larger than that of the ball 20, These sockets 2.4 are "located about the entirecircumferenceyof the hsub -2f,land are arranged substan tially in-eontact subject to-"the provision. otf a suf; i n wa h cknas a v l d: t wa ow? strains referred to hereafter.

j: The i'nglfl g i'stlproyidedy interior-ly below the-race 1.4 with an annu1ar=shoulder 26: f; send-circular axial seetion,;and inrth is shoulder there is milled a single semiespheri'eal socket :28, which, taken opposite and iinxyoombination with one got, the

sockets 24,1 Substantially defines a; semi-spherical bore in the sub 2 and normally urged upwardly by :a' strong ispring 36gintoengagement 1 with an adjustable --ring 35 cthreaded mto; the upper l p01.- tion ofithe sub and adaptecl toradjust the:uppermost position of the vrlng The v sleeve .134 Ills githe race l4 the.,sub,is gprjovi'de'd with a shoulas leachHaving,2; Cylindrical 11131 1 portion ban .1.-

i I The app a'ratus in this con:cflition;is loweredi to .lthe bore, hole ;by the. making' up of, the sections of thedrillstem until the whips tock is located at rotation is then stopped.

string to ultimately rest on th v fpress the'spring "3 6,1 thus, dri ngQthesIeev' 34- "do'w'nwardlyt 'Thepin 3,2 movingdownwardlyin the slot '33 throughywhi'ch 'itie'xtends; iwill move theisleeve 30 below thebottoms ofithe socket/S24 ahd 28. Assume now th'at'the' socket 2B'iisinot on the lo'w'isideofIttheihole?Under such condig provided with a go-devil seat indicated at as, to

which reference will be made later.

Packing 42, provided in the sub 2 and ring 8, engages the inner and outer surfaces of the ring 30. Other packing 43 is preferably located between the sub 2 and the upper portion of the ring 8, so as to eifect isolation of therace I4 and the associated flsocketsffr w side the sub? 'In the use of this device, the elements are the mud inside'E- a a out? assembled as illustrated, the Whipstock or other tool In being secured by the shear pin I2 tothe A ring 8 in a predetermined relationship to the socket 28.

For example, this socket may be located directly above theshear pin,"-though ot course, any other definitely'fdetrmined position". can be used. The spring-36 now urges the sleeve" 1'5 ""depth offthesoj'cket 28 is'such as to bring the center' of the ball substantially below the shoulder 34 upwardly and with it the1ring'30toldcat'e the upper end of that ring substantially at or slightly Thus it will but if the packings rare properly fitted, any solid material will be effectively. filtered; out and what .enters the race w illbe clear liquid, which will oifer 'no hind 'ranc t eirs? q m of t e substantiallythe levelatlwhich itf is to be set. Desir'ably, theljdr'ill stem is vthen 'rotated through several revolutions'in o'rder to twist it to thefe x tent that friction mayfulti natelydictate. 'The If the hole is now slightly dh. teitmi it; is

usually the case) the ball ,2n,';1 e1y niovingjinlits 1 "race will take aposition atthelow side ofejth'e hole becjause 'of its Quitefree movement.' Such position illf'be taken? even though the sight, .of thehole'fi's'very slightl Ago-devil is no 1 drbppdithroughithe :"drill tions, the ball willdroplirltotthat'" socket 24; which is most nearly aligned" withdtf However, it cannot drop completely "to th'e bottom of the socket but will drop partially into siichsocket until it rests on the annular shoulder 2G in the position-28'; Thde'xtent'of rnove'nientis such as to bring the center of the ball'below -the shoulder 22, so that the application of rotary movement will not tend to cause the ball to jump from the socket 24 in which it is thus restin'g. In fact,

the'sockets 24 are desirably slightly inclined downwardly away 'fronr-the direction of rotary movement, so that rotationaltorces will tend to move the ball 20' downwardly rather thanuipwardly. H V v It will now betevident'that the "ball 2O Willstill occupy j substantially a position at the 5' low side of thehole 'w'ithtanerror less thanihalf the angular spacing between sockets 24. --Inasmuch as there is no point in securing extreme ac- V curacy of positioning of a whipstock, because the drilling alwayserrs to some substantial extent in any event from precise correspondence with the whipstock position, the error in the marking of the low side of the sub is of no substantial QO I Q Q Q R M .Jlhe' drill'stein is now rotated through at least one c'ornplete revolution," but prererably through several complete revolutions. As rotation now takes place, the ball 20 will move with the socket 24 in which. it-has dropped until it comes into talignmentwith the socket 28. As soon as this yoccurs,,it will drop into the socket 28, now occupying the positionizOff-illustrated in Figure 2.- The 26,1so'that there will be no tendency for it to jump out of socket 28. The rotation is, of course,

desirablyslowly efiected, so that the ball will'not overrun'the socket, 28,. though even if p it doesgso, if several revolutions :of; the-drill stem aremade,

its dropping into the socket will beicertain to.be efiected inone of them. .-..The socket zetis desirably sufliciently larger than the ball so as to provide itseasyfdropping ther'eintoa. i

As soon. as .the' balloccupies the position within the socket 28, it will be vevident that {the rsubli and the .ring aware locked together." fI'hus the ,-whipstock will-be rotatedawiththe sub; with the resultthat' when--theisub)completeseach revolu r .tion theposition of thewhipstock-will be definite 1y known by reaso'n' of theiact'thatat the" com- .pletion of each such revolution the: socket" 28 will be; subject to the slight error: mentioned above, at the low side of'th'e hole: From a-pre-i vious survey the azimutlibfthe low side of the hole 'will be-known-and hencethis low' side ot t" V the hole 'forms' sa reierence -for azimuthal p'osi -tions. If the whipstock, by rea'son of 'such pos'i tioning isnot-indesired location; thedrill stem isthen given' such' further rotationfla's' wnrs'e'rv' to bring the 'whipstock into the predetermiried' desired azimuthal position. "The Weight f *the drill stem-may then' be -"caused to beai' the shear pin I2- to she'ar'it on whipstock' inth the earth position.' f? If a' drill bit iscarriedat helbwje "whipstock,-drilling-may-then T fected; without furtherfdelay 1 course, the go 'devil is de'sirabl pr so i e --I'nud passage, so t'liat: circulation'may treatise through the *bit. The beuizn'may be left in its position in :the sockets, WiththdlSllltf that the ring a will rotat"withjtlie'fsub. l-l'owevertsince a broken portion 1 of th 0 I and cohsequently 'during v r'illing ow's may be imparted to thef ring" 8, it may be .de'sir'ablj means of a1 suitable'catcher whe pqn the ring 36 will move the springu ball-20 jinto the race will befree.

It will beevident fro m the abdvefds that orientation 'of a to'ol'may be effected without the necessity for-use-of anysurveying-"in'stru ment or the occurrence ofthe'-"delayresultins fromits use. At the same' time} the tool orienting means is-extremely sensitive to inclinatioii "'01 course, it is not reliable'if the lrole isso"narly vertical that a. random inclination "of the elements in the; drill stem might throw the-race] 4 toinclination not f corresponding with th'at of a the m h .11? l fi i i t soek t [m smate effected m y: aisihefl hejpe rdev '.ibr

criptioii hole. Since before any sidetracking is done the slope of the hole is always known, it can be readily determined as a preliminary matter whether this apparatus is proper for use.

It will be obvious that the orienting apparatus described may be used consistently with any other apparatus generally associated with directional drilling. For example, directly above the sub 2 there may be located a suitable retrieving apparatus such as disclosed in Kothny Patent 2,107,420. In fact, a single go-devil might be used for operating both pieces of apparatus, since they would function at quite different times.

Additionally, if desired, provision may be made for checking the whipstock position before it is released by the provision on the upper end of the whipstock of one or more magnets which produce magnetic fields through a non-magnetic sub located above the sub 2 and arranged to receive a surveying instrument in the manner described in Hyer Patent 2,120,670.

It will be evident that the pilot means, constituted herein by the ball 20, may take other forms, the pilot means not necessarily being the locking means between the drill stem and the tool to be oriented. Variations may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, a pair of relatively rotatable members adapted to be positioned in a bore hole, an element normally freely movable relatively to one of said members to occupy a position defining the low side thereof, means effecting fixing of said element to said member for rotation therewith, and cooperating means on the second member engageable with said element during rotation of the first mentioned member to effect rotation of the second member with the first.

2. In combination, a pair of relatively rotatable members adapted to be positioned in a bore hole, a circular race, a ball movable in said race relatively to one of said members to occupy a position defining the low side thereof, means effecting fixing of said ball to said member for rotation therewith, and cooperating means on the second member engageable with said ball during rotation of the first mentioned member to effect rotation of the second member with the first.

3. In combination, a pair of relatively rotatable members adapted to be positioned in a bore hole, a circular race, a ball movable in said race relatively to one of said members to occupy a position defining the low side thereof, means efiecting fixing of said ball to said member for rotation therewith, comprising sockets in said member and means effecting location of the ball in one of said sockets, and cooperating means on the second member engageable with said ball during rotation of the first mentioned member to effect rotation of the second member with the first.

4. In combination,'a pair of relatively rotatable members adapted to be positioned in a bore hole, a circular race, a ball movable in said race relatively to one of said members to occupy a position defining the low side thereof, means effecting fixing of said ball to said member for rotation therewith, comprising sockets in said member and means effecting location of the ball in one of the sockets, and cooperating means on the second member comprising a socket for receiving said ball during rotation of the first mentioned member to effect rotation of the second member with the first.

5. In combination, a pair of relatively rotatable members adapted to be positioned in a bore hole, means for defining the low side of one of said members when that member is stationary in the bore hole and. for thereafter defining that, side during rotation of said member, and means for clutching said members together for simultaneous rotary movement when said defined low side of the first member occupies a predetermined angular relationship to the second member.

6. In combination, a pair of relatively rotatable members adapted to be positioned in a bore hole, means for defining the side of one of said members occupying a particular azimuthal position when that member is stationary in the bore hole and for thereafter defining that side during rotation of said member, and means for clutching said members together for simultaneous rotary movement when said defined side of the first member occupies a predetermined angular relationship to the second member.

7. In combination, a pair of relatively rotatable members adapted to be positioned in a bore hole, an element, means for mounting said element for movement to an operative position defining the low side of one of said members when said member is stationary in the bore hole, means effecting rotary movement of said element with said member after the element assumes said operative position, and means on the second member engageable with said element during rotation of the first mentioned member to effect rotation of the second member with the first.

8. In combination, a pair of relatively rotatable members adapted to be positioned in a bore hole, an element, means mounting said element for free movement relatively to one of said members to a position defining the low side thereof, means effecting fixing of said element to said member for rotation therewith, and cooperating means on the second member engageable with said element during rotation of the first mentioned member to effect rotation of the second member with the first.

GEORGE A. SMITH. 

